Adventure in Australia
by MJFastlane
Summary: Eight world-class teams are sent to Australia for *gasp* a 'bonding' trip. Will they survive the adventure camp Mr. D has sent them to? More importantly, will they survive each other? Yaoi, BryanxRay main, some other minor pairings. DISCONTINUED
1. To Australia, with Insect Repellant!

Yay! I am back with another fic! This one is called 'Adventures in Australia' and I will warn you now...it's nothing like 'Lost in the Rain'. It contains the thoughs or Ray and Bryan and weirdness and OOCness to the extreme. However, it popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone, so here it is. The first chapter, told in Ray's point of view.

Side note: the air con is broken and it's forty degrees. I hate summer...

Disclaimer: It's too hot for me to own Beyblade, okay? It's too hot for me to do anything, especially work up enough money to buy Beyblade of the person who owns it. So, I don't own it.

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What the hell?

It was a question I was wondering after Mr. Dickenson dropped his bombshell. I'm pretty sure most of the others were wondering it too. If I give it just a minute, I'm sure Tyson will ask for all of us.

"What the hell?" I was right! Not that it's exactly hard; Tyson's pretty predictable. If it involves food, sleep or blading it's his favourite thing in the world...but if it involves exercise or dieting, it's his worst enemy. You don't even have to have known him as long as I have to realise that. After all, BEGA realise it already and they've only known him a few months. Hell, a person who met him a week ago would be able to realise it.

"Tyson, please be reasonable. I have made my decision, and I really believe this is in the best interests of everyone present." Mr. Dickenson tries to placate the angry dragon. I wish him the best of luck, but not with Tyson. No, if I'm correct, the Blitzkrieg Boys are about to blow their collective top too.

"Why don't you be reasonable, old man?" See? I knew it. I should get points or something for my observational skills. But, you don't need any particular sort of skill to tell that Bryan is pissed. Tala looks annoyed too. Kai, well, Kai's Kai, it's always hard to tell what he's thinking, but I doubt he approves of the idea. Australia is a long way away, and its summer there too. Apparently Australian summers are very hot. I wouldn't know, I've only been to Sydney in spring. Spencer doesn't look too impressed either, but that could be the fact that he's been delegated to Ian's babysitter by the rest of his team.

"Is there a problem, Bryan?" That was a stupid question. Anyone with half an eye could see there's a problem. Bryan's not exactly subtle when he's angry. I'm yet to meet anyone who really is. Anger's not a subtle emotion. People, unless they're stupendously unobservant (say, Tyson or Daichi for example), can usually tell if someone's angry. Especially when they're on their feet yelling like Bryan is. Like I said, not really subtle.

"Hell yeah! No way am I going to Australia for a camping trip!" Well, it's not really a camping trip, but Bryan's angry, so I'll let it slide. I'd do the same thing, myself. Exaggerate, that is. We're really being sent on an adventure camp, but we're staying in cabins and it's supposed to help strengthen bonds between the teams. Actually, maybe it is a camping trip.

"You will be going, Bryan, just like everyone else. The arrangements have already been made. In fact, you'll be leaving tomorrow." Whoa, isn't that a little short notice of you, Mr. D? We have to get packed and stuff, you know. I get eaten alive by mosquitoes; I need time to find insect repellent! Yeah, part-cat and I get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Woe is me, especially in a small village that hasn't quite grasped the concept of flyscreen over the windows or mosquito nets for the beds.

Uh-oh, Bryan looks like he's about to blow his top. Lucky for us Spencer's taken him outside to cool down. Unlucky for Spencer who's going to have put up with a furious falcon. I did that once and ended up in hospital. But, I think the fact that I was the enemy at the time may have had something to do with that too. I don't think I'm the enemy now; Bryan went so far as to apologise for that incident and thank me for what I did after the whole BEGA incident. Getting out of the abbey really mellowed those guys. Not that you can tell; they're still anti-social bastards at the best of times. But at least they're not anti-social psycho bastards like they were before.

"Does anyone else have any problems with the trip?" What a stupid question. Mr. Dickenson has a habit of asking stupid questions. He's now getting bombarded with them by nearly every team captain, coach or official in the room, and there's quite a few of them. Do you want a list? No? Too bad, I'm giving you one. Let's see, there's Tyson, Hiro, Judy Tate, Romero, Tao (though he's 'helping' Mr. D by sharing his 'wisdom' around rather than asking questions), Miguel, Lee, Michael, Garland, Robert (yeah, the Majestics showed up after BEGA to report success in shutting said organisation down in Europe. Smug rich people) and even Tala, though I think he's doing it more to placate Bryan than out of any real curiousity. I'm just sitting in my nice noisy little corner, hoping they'll all shut up soon so it can go back to being a nice quiet little corner. Not that Hiro, Miguel, Garland or Robert are being that loud. Actually, it's really only Tyson, Daichi and Tao making all the noise. Great, I feel the beginnings of what promises to be a very painful headache...

"Hush, everyone!" Yay, Hiro, you're my new hero...please don't comment on that sentence. Yeah, I'm talking to myself as if I expect an answer. I do it a lot. It helps keep me sane. Yes, sane. It's better than talking to Tyson, at any rate. I seriously believe that even Brooklyn would be driven to madness after a week of Tyson's constant presence. So I haven't been dealing with his constant presence, but what I've had to put up with is more than enough.

I wonder if Spencer's still alive out there? It's awfully quiet...wait, that means Tyson and Daichi shut up! Yes! Cue the confetti and fireworks!

"Ray, are you alright?" Some of my excitement must have shown, despite it all being sarcasm, because I've got a very worried Mariah looking at me. Thank some deity that she's stopped trying to hit on me. I think she got distracted by Rick and Mystel, to tell you the truth. Ah well, either one is welcome to her. Don't get me wrong, she's a great friend, but she's...clingy. And possessive. And also god-awfully stubborn. While I'm gay. That's right, gay. As in, interested in guys, not girls. Which is why I'm thankful Mariah's stopped having such an interest in me. She's a friend, and I wouldn't want to hurt her feelings by rejecting her horribly, which is what I'd do if she asked me out. Or tried to kiss me. Neither option particularly appeals to me, but like I mentioned earlier, she's got Rick and Mystel, so she's leaving me alone.

No one knows I'm gay, by the way. It's not really accepted in my village. The place still operates on arranged marriages, and homosexuality is frowned upon. I'm not afraid of my more modern friends rejecting me, but the White Tigers are another matter entirely. They'd probably try to stone me to death if they found out – well, maybe not, but there'd be yelling, they'd be disgusted and I'd walk away crying. So it's best for all involved if I just keep it quiet. That way, none of the gay bladers will try to hit on me. I mean, I'm gay too, but I really am not attracted to most of them. And the guys I am attracted to, I believe to be straight.

Example One: Raul is gay. Raul does not in any way attract me. He's an alright kid, but I cannot see myself having a romantic or sexual relationship with him. That would just be icky.

Example Two: Oliver is gay...but I think he's in a secret relationship with Enrique, so really, he's a pointless example. Why did I mention him again? Oh yeah, because he's gay and I'm not attracted to him. Though his cooking is really good...back to the point. I'm sure I had one.

Oh yeah...Example Three: On to a non-gay. Bryan isn't gay (I don't think, I've never asked, but he just doesn't seem like it), and yet I find him drop-dead gorgeous. This is the guy who tried to kill me during a beyblade match...I know, I'm crazy. But that's between me and my thoughts. No one else has to know. Anyway, I think he's hot, but there's no way in all of existence he'd be attracted to me. Anyway, enough of that hopeless infatuation.

Example Four: Kai. Not really interested in a relationship with him; he's a friend, not a fling. But he is extremely hot. That, I will not deny. He's also straight, as far as I know. Though, one time when Max was drunk (gasp, not the innocent little Maxie drunk!), he suggested Kai had a thing for Tyson...I swore never to drink with that boy again after three days of non-stop icky mental pictures of those two kissing. Not that that's wrong or anything, but Tyson and Kai? I'm stopping right there. Enough.

"...Ray? Lee, he's not answering. He's been spaced out for ages..." Since when was Mariah talking? Or was she always talking and I just not listening? Yeah, I'm going with option number two.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mariah, I was just thinking." That should get her off my back. I hope.

"The meeting's over Ray." Lee gives me a look. I think he's trying to say something, but I'm not well-versed in reading looks. Unless they're coming from Kai, but that's mostly self-preservation. "It's been over for ten minutes." Oh, so it was exasperation in his look. I get that confused with annoyance and irritation. But not anger. As mentioned before, anger isn't that subtle. I nod and smile to get the lion off my back, before stretching extensively, like the tiger I'm purported to be. Ooh, that was a big, English word. Points to me!

"Come on Ray, wake up." Great, now Kevin's joined the nagging. If there was a world championship for nagging, him, Lee and Mariah should enter. They're all very, very good naggers. I don't like naggers, yet they're my friends. Oh, I confuse myself so much. Mind, shut up, now.

...

...

Well, that didn't work.

"Ray!'

"Alright, alright, I'm coming. Seriously, can't a guy get a few moments to think?" I smile, to show them I'm joking. Kevin, Gary and Mariah accept it, but I think Lee's suspicious. Of what, I don't know. There's nothing really interesting going on in this head of mine. Except for wonder as to where the other teams went. Oh, wait, Lee said the meeting finished ages ago. So they've already left, probably to start packing. Which reminds me, I'm really going to need that insect repellent. Australia, here I come.

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Wow. Chapter one, complete. As previously mentioned, probably way out of character, but this is meant to be...kinda. It's not like we're shown much of their thought processes in the show, so I can make them think pretty much what I like, I guess. Seriously though, if you don't like the OOCness, don't bother reading any further, because it will continue. Next chapter will be Bryan, and that's even more OOC than this.

That said, please reviewand let me know what you thought. It's a little test ficcy, so let me know if it's worth it to keep going. Also let me know if it's funny, because I tried, but I'm not seeing heaps of humour...Oh well.


	2. To Australia, with Hate

I just got back from Wollongong yesterday, and I've decided I'm not going to uni there. Eleven hours travel on a bus...no thank you! And the place we were staying didn't have air conditioning...I am not having good luck with air conditioners at the moment. It's so bloody hot...I hate summer.

Anyway, second chapter as promised, and it's from Bryan's point of view. I know this story doesn't seem like much right now, but it will go somewhere...eventually.

Side note: The air conditioner has been fixed! Hallelujah! But I still hate summer...

Warnings: Everyone is out of character! Yay! Also, there is moderate swearing in this, but I think the rating sticks...teenagers swear all the time, at least way out here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. Let me make that abundantly clear. I don't own, so please don't sue me...I need to save my money for a car when I get my P's in May...if I ever get enough hours. 120 hours is impossible in a year! But yeah, I don't own it. I don't own much at all, really.

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I hate Mr. Dickenson. I hate Tala. I hate this plane. I've already decided I hate Australia too. Reasons why? Mr. Dickenson because he's a great bloody arsehole making us go on some fancy camping trip, to Australia, to 'bond' with the other teams. Do I look like I do bonding? No. I don't. I hate Tala because he agreed to us going. Well, not really, but he didn't disagree strongly enough, since we're on a plane over the Pacific, bound for Australia. I think it's the Pacific; geography isn't my strong point. If you go from Japan to Australia, do you pass over the Pacific? Someone tell me, because I am not asking the idiots I have for teammates. Most definitely not Tala, not right now anyway, and I never talk to Ian if I can avoid it. Annoying midget. Spencer's not in my good books either, since he wouldn't let me kill Dickenson. Annoying pacifist whale. Well, not a literal whale; he wouldn't fit on the plane then. But Seaborg's a whale, so Spencer's a whale. Like Falborg's a falcon, so I'm a falcon. Duh. Simple. Oh god, I'm explaining shit to myself. Like why I hate stuff, when I already know. Stupid plane that's taking us to Australia. Stupid Australia for being the place that arsehole chose for us to go for a stupid bonding trip. Yes, there is no logic to my blame system. Despite that, it is simple. Blame anyone or anything but me. I am never to blame. Pretty easy, yes? And yet, Ian still doesn't understand it.

Plane trips are so boring, I have noticed. There is nothing to do. The movies are always crap, I've never really been big on reading, and I don't own an MP3 player. I've got nothing to do but stare out the windows or at the other unfortunates in the plane with me. Seriously, are we flying over the Pacific or not? I really want to know now. I know I said I wasn't going to, but...stuff it, I'm asking Spencer.

"Spencer?"

"What?"

"Do you pass over the Pacific Ocean when flying from Japan to Australia?"

"What the...where'd that come from?" Great, so now he's looking at me like I'm some sort of hideously deformed creature. I knew there was a reason I didn't want to ask.

"Well, I was just wondering." Tell me already! I wanna know!

"Not really. You fly over the Philippines Sea."

"Oh, okay. Where's that? Is it near the Philippines?" I may have mentioned before that geography is not my strong point. Especially not that of the Southern Hemisphere. I know a bit about Europe and Asia, I'm pretty good with Russian geography, but take me out of the Northern Hemisphere and I'm lost.

"Spencer?" Great. He's not answering me. I really do hate him right now. But I hate Tala more. And I hate Ian the most. I'm not happy with Mr. Dickenson either. Not good, since he decided to come along on the trip. Doesn't he have business shit to be doing instead? Like rebuilding the BBA or something? Boris stuffed them up pretty good, but he's always been good at stuffing shit up. Look what he did to all of us in the Abbey.

"...something beginning with 'c'!" Hmm, wonder who's playing 'I Spy'? Oh it's just Tyson, Daichi and Max. And Ray. I always thought he was better than that. Max is the one to pick something. Like it's hard to guess. All there is to see is sky, water and clouds. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

"Cars!" Daichi is an idiot. I always wondered why Tala hated him so much. Well, now I know. Our great and glorious leader really can't stand stupid people. Explains why he doesn't like Tyson. Sure he respects him as a blader, but as a person? Not a snowball's chance in hell.

"Uh, Daichi? We're in an aeroplane. How can there be cars in the sky?" Max and Ray are now trying to explain to Daichi about the physics making his guess impossible. Good luck with the idiot. Don't think you'll get too far.

"Well, what else could it be?" Great, now he's whining. Make it stop already.

"Clouds, Max?"

"Ray got it!" Well duh, what else could it be? Ugh, they're all idiots, except for the tiger. Remind me to stay away from the three idiots. And Ian, too. Make it four idiots. I might just go back to staring out the window. It's definitely more interesting than anything else happening here. We're flying over land now. Hopefully we're getting close to landing. I think we're going to some place way out in the middle of nowhere. Then again, from what I've heard, unless you're on the coast in Australia, you really are in the middle of nowhere.

"Spencer, where in Australia are we going?" I'm talking to him again now, so long as he doesn't keep ignoring me. That's really annoying. I don't do well with annoying.

"Uh, I don't know." Well, good that he answered, but bad that he doesn't know. "I think it's near Newcastle?"

"Where's that?" Really not good at geography. Boris didn't think we'd need to know anything other than Russia's geography, even though he wanted us to take over the world. Well, Voltaire did, but whatever. They're both crazy.

"On the coast of New South Wales. Central east coast."

"Right."

"You have no idea, do you?"

"Is it near civilisation?"

"Yes."

"Okay, good."

"You'll be able to feed your Coke addiction, Bryan. Don't worry." He's gone back to staring around the plane. I think he'd be looking out the window, but I got the window seat. Yeah, I have a Coke addiction. As in Coca-Cola the soft drink, not coke – cocaine – the drug. I don't do drugs. Not after the Abbey. Not before it either. Not that I really remember much from before. Not that any of this really matters at the moment either. Finally, we're landing! Not that I want to get to Australia, because that means 'bonding'. I hate that word. I hate a lot of things. But really, I just want to get off this plane.

"Bryan! Put your seat belt on!" Have I mentioned that Tala is a mother hen? Well, he is. He seriously has problems...but so do all the rest of us. Well, that was a completely redundant train of thought. I'll just put the seatbelt on now...

"Flipping hell!" No, that wasn't me, though I was thinking something similar. Like 'far out'. Or worse. No, not me. Johnny. The irritating redheaded Scottish guy. Yeah, him. I wouldn't like to be on his team. He's getting scolded by the stuck-up German guy. At least Tala doesn't get up us for swearing. If he did he'd be the world's biggest hypocrite. Well, maybe not, but he'd be a hypocrite all the same. Anyway, back to why Johnny went off like he did. The idiot pilot landed the plane so bad it did bunny hops halfway down the runway. Yeah, it was bad. Raul had to run to the toilets. The hostesses (despite it being a private plane, we have hostesses. Yeah, weird, I know) were getting up him for leaving his seat. It was kinda funny. What was not in any way funny was the landing. It was painful. I could have done better. Ian could have done better, it was that bad. Tala's pissed now because he managed to bash his head even with a seatbelt on. Don't ask me how he does this stuff; it just happens. It's good to laugh at though – when Spencer lets me. He's such an over-bearing arse.

Finally off the aeroplane! I'd than God if I believed in Him. But I don't. Christianity has never made sense to me. Neither has any other religion I can think of, like Hinduism or Buddhism. So much easier to be atheist.

"Come on, everybody on the bus!" Max's mother is a bossy cow. I don't like her very much. Scratch that, I don't like her at all. Keep her away from me please. And while you're at it, can you keep Ian away too? Well, better be a good little boy and do as I'm told. The less I have to talk to her, the better. Now, where the hell am I going to sit? Spare seats next to Emily...no way. Mariah...no. Daichi...definitely not! Where are the others sitting? Oh, Kai's got a seat to himself. Bastard. Tala's sitting with Spencer, so the only free seat is next to Ian. Crap. I know Kai's sitting by himself, but he's having a moody fit at the moment, and I am not suicidal. Or stupid. In this case, they're the same thing.

"Hey Bry." Didn't I tell you to keep Ian away from me? This is going to be a long trip. I really hate bus trips. Wait a minute...

"Don't call me that!"

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Whoo hoo! Bring on the OOCness! I'm terrible, I really am. But it's so much fun to write...

Please review. Love it, hate it, or really couldn't care less...review anyway. Please?

P.S I accept anonymous reviewers...did I spell anonymous correctly?


	3. In Australia, with Three Imps

Whoo! New chapter, just because everyone was so kind with their reviews. Plus I already had it typed up...

NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I start back at school tomorrow. My last year...of which I've already done a term, so really, my last three terms. Wish me luck...

Warnings: Evil imps, dangerous room assignments, OCs (who shall only have a very minor role in the fic) and Tyson nearly gettig killed. Nothing too bad...

Disclaimer: I own Beyblade not. Australian I am, Japanese I am not. Yoda-like, I type. Star Wars, watched too much I have...

Enjoy!

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Finally, we're here. I'm almost relieved. The plane trip wasn't too bad, despite being stuck next to Max and behind Tyson and Daichi, all of whom insisted on playing 'I Spy', despite the fact there's really nothing to see except sky and clouds. And they wondered why I kept guessing right all the time. They just think I'm a master of the game...and I'm not going to disillusion them just yet. So, despite that, the plane trip wasn't too bad. The bus trip, however, was another story.

Note to self: never let Kevin and Ian near each other again. They cause way too much trouble. Somehow Kevin had managed to get a seat with Gary, the world's most docile blader, directly in front of Ian and Bryan. I have no idea why Tala and Spencer let Ian sit with Bryan. Gorgeous he might be, but patient, he definitely is not. And from what I'd seen of Ian previously, I had a feeling patience was something you needed in copious amounts. Anyway, I was way up the other end of the bus sitting with Lee, but I still heard the violent Russian curses from Bryan and the laughter of the two little imps. They are now the imps, in my mind. Why? Because they're short and mischievous, just like imps. I'm still not sure what happened in that bus, but Bryan still looks annoyed while the imps are doing their best to avoid him. Even, it seems, pestering me.

"So Ray, how was your trip on the bus?" Kevin's pulled Ian over to me. I don't know what protection they think I could offer from Bryan; he was the one who put me in hospital, remember? And he lost that match.

"Not as eventful as yours, apparently." I keep my voice neutral; I definitely don't want to be the target of their next prank. Believe me, there will be more.

We're all following Hiro up a path now. He has the map, not that it looks very helpful, at least not the brief glimpse I got of it. I've managed to lose the imps, only to gain Tyson and Max. Whoa Ray, slow down. Back away slowly. I like them and all, but after that bus trip I really just want to lay down somewhere quiet and doze. We've passed several large buildings, and lots of trees. I'm serious. You can't see around corners in the path because of the trees. Actually, it's kind of pretty. They're not big thick foresty trees like I'm used to, but tall, slender bushy trees. I think they're called eucalypts. Kenny would know. I'll have to ask him.

"These trees look kinda retarded." Well, if I'm not very much mistaken, that was Bryan. Yep, sure enough, he's walking a bit behind me with Spencer, though he seems annoyed with the blond. Probably because Spencer left him to sit with Ian. At least, that's my guess.

"You're used to pines, Bryan. These are eucalypts." See? I knew it. And who says I'm dumb just because I was raised in a remote neko-jin village?

"You were the one who said it, not anyone else." Oh, my, god. Bryan just spoke to me. Oh, my, god, I just said all of that out loud. That's bad. You're slipping, Ray. Wait, why am I talking to god again? I'm a Buddhist.

"Well, I was thinking it. I didn't really mean to say it out loud." I fall into step with the two Russians; kinda hard, since they're both a fair bit taller than me. This means I'm walking really quickly while they're just taking normal steps. I must look like an idiot. I'm rather surprised they haven't told me to nick off yet, actually. The Russian team members are not known for their social skills, a fact I've probably mentioned numerous times. Spencer's not too bad, though he's pretty quiet, and Tala, while sarcastic, will actually talk. Ian's a mischievous little imp, but he only speaks to annoy. However, since everything he does is annoying, he speaks a lot. Kai's his usual strong silent self, though he's really been working on the communication thing since the BEGA incident. He even says hello to the people who don't annoy him too much. Bryan only ever seems to talk to insult someone, though, unless he's speaking with his teammates. Which is half the reason I'm so surprised that he spoke to me.

"You okay, tiger? You're kinda spacing out there." Oh. Shit.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Wonder how much further we have to go?" I'm serious; it feels like we've been walking for hours. In reality, it's probably only ten minutes or so, but dragging our luggage makes it feel further than it really is.

"Not too much farther," Spencer says. I give him a look, but before he can answer I'm swung around to face a circle of logs around a campfire. Several metres behind the logs are a number of cabins, pretty standard looking sleeping accommodation. Hiro's taken a spot in the middle of the circle near a few strangers; I guess they're our instructors for the camp. The other adults move over to join him. Yeah, the other adults came too. Hiro, Judy, Mr. Tate (I'm never quite sure of his first name), Tao (woe is me, and everyone who hears his 'wisdom'), Romero, Grandpa Granger and even Mr. Dickenson all came along with us. I don't know why Mr. Dickenson came; isn't he busy rebuilding the BBA? Maybe he thought there wasn't enough suitable supervision? Ah well, better than being stuck with Tyson's grandpa all day. That guy scares me...

"Would everyone please take a seat?" Hiro asks us. We all nod, groan or just do it silently. I end up sitting between Bryan and, gods help me, Kevin, with Ian on his other side. The imps better not try anything, or else. I'm not sure what else just yet, but there will be something. I just did that talking to god thing again, didn't I?

"Good, I'll hand it over to you, then." He looks at the woman beside him. She's petite, blonde and looks like a model, except not abnormally skinny. She's also tanned, lean and fit, probably from running this joint.

"My name's Lyndal, I'm the head instructor, I suppose would be the word, for this place. The others here with me are Brett, Kiaya, Davo and Jase." Brett was a lanky blond surfer type; Kiaya was a large black woman (large as in tall and muscular, not large as in fat), Davo was a short, dark-haired, tanned guy, and Jase was a friendly-looking redhead. They all looked nice enough, though Brett seemed a bit conceited. "We'll be your guides, I suppose. You've all been put into cabins. The list of people in each cabin is on the cabin door. There will be no changes, unless someone nearly gets killed. We try to avoid that when we can; the stains are so hard to get out." A few nervous giggles; I don't really like the idea of pre-selected roommates. I really, really hope I'm not in with the imps. The lady, Lyndal continues on: "You'll be split into three groups tomorrow for the activities, but right now you'd better go find your cabins."

Well, that's just triggered a mad scramble, led by Tyson and Daichi. Not that it will make any difference since we've already been placed in cabins. I'm following at a much slower, infinitely more dignified pace, along with the more sensible of the bladers. That means I'm with people like Garland, Miguel, Claude, Robert, Eddy, Spencer, Bryan, Tala, Kai...you get the idea. The calm ones.

"Kai, Tala, Garland, Brooklyn! You're in here with us!" Tyson's waving excitedly from the door of the first cabin, Max standing behind him. That should be interesting. I wonder if Tyson will survive. I wonder whether Tala and Garland will survive, or Kai and Brooklyn. They all say they've buried the hatchet, but I kinda doubt it. Some things you can't forgive that easily. If they're all still sane after a week, I'll be amazed.

The next cabin contains the three imps, plus Gary, Crusher and Mystel. We drop off Gary and Crusher, before continuing on. I may have to add Mystel as an imp. Ha, they shall now be the four imps. I hope no more join. Three was more than enough. Four of them will drive us crazy. Any more and they'll probably wake up drowning in the lake one night. I can see Tala and Bryan doing something like that, actually. And I might even volunteer to help. The girls have a cabin to themselves; there are only six of them. I wonder how long Ming-Ming will survive Hilary. The rest of them get along pretty well, but those two can't stand each other. Mariah was telling me about it one time. Well, it's more Hilary really doesn't like the little pop princess. Can't say I blame her since Ming-Ming's a spoilt brat. She can be nice enough sometimes, but she's selfish and spoilt. She's worse than the Majestics; at least they're responsible. Well, Robert and Oliver are anyway. Speaking of Oliver, we've just passed the cabin he'll be sharing with Eddy, Rick, Enrique, Raul and Kenny. Not too bad a bunch except for Rick, I guess. He'll be a problem for Raul and Kenny for sure. I hope Eddy can keep him from being too much of an arse to the others.

Well, the next cabin, and it's mine! Finally. Looks like I'm sharing with Robert, Miguel, Claude, Spencer and, god help me, Bryan. What am I going to do? This is going to be so awkward! Well, it won't be too bad apart from trying not to make a fool of myself in front of Bryan, I guess. We're leaving Michael, Steve (he's recovered from his broken leg and Judy decided to bring him on the camp), Aaron, Lee and Johnny to the last cabin. Fun, fun, fun. Well, no one seems in a particular hurry to pick a bed. There's three bunk sets in the room, so everyone will have to share. Claude quickly claimed a bottom bunk, and Miguel's taken the one above. Spencer's also claimed a bottom bunk, and Bryan's taken the other. Robert's grabbed the top bunk above Spencer, leaving me to the one above Bryan. Wow. Even more awkward. Maybe I should just paint my cheeks red right now to avoid the trouble later on.

"Well, I guess this isn't too bad a rooming arrangement." Miguel looks up at us from where he's already begun making his bed. Personally, I'm leaving it until later, after dinner or something. I really can't be bothered mucking around with it right now.

"Heh, not like poor Tyson." I can't help a snicker.

"You feel sorry for him?" Claude's giving me a strange look.

"Yeah. He's gonna get murdered. He'll be lucky to survive the night."

"He'll be lucky to survive dinner. We're supposed to sit in our cabin groups." Wow, Robert, where'd you learn that? Glad you know that sort of stuff, because I sure don't.

"Great. Then we're all good, Tyson's dead, any one of Kai, Tala or Garland, maybe even all three will be in jail, Ming-Ming and Hilary will start a food fight, Gary and Crusher will probably wake up pranked to the high heavens by the imps, Rick's gonna drive Raul and Kenny to suicide or something and Johnny'll get kicked out of his cabin after ten minutes." Gee, aren't I the positive little veggie?

"That's positive, Ray," Bryan says from his bed, somewhat sarcastically. Not that I was really expecting anything else. Spencer's smirking a little, same with Robert, while Claude and Miguel are laughing, but whether it's at what I said or what Bryan said is anyone's guess.

"I don't even give Johnny ten minutes," Robert says.

"Wow, you're in a betting mood tonight." Spencer sounds like he's teasing the German. I sure hope Robert realises that.

"Mm. You got anything for it?"

"Nah, but I'd say Tyson's already dead."

"Why's that?" Robert's twisted to look at Spencer who's doing something with his luggage. As if on cue, there's a strangled scream, and looking through the window we can see Tyson running for his life. Garland's standing in the doorway, arms crossed, but facing inwards like he's trying to stop someone from pursuing the dragon. A string of angry Russian is heard, and Bryan and Spencer both shake their heads.

"Tala," Spencer mutters. Sure enough, I can see Garland being shoved backwards by the redhead. I am definitely not getting involved.

"What do you say we just turn around and pretend we never saw anything?" Claude's suggestion is a good one, and we all settle on our beds to wait for dinner, trying to ignore the shouts from outside, as much as we can. Maybe I was being too optimistic when I thought Tyson would be able to last the day...

* * *

Did you see the hints of a pairing in this? I'm not so great with romance, so I hope people picked up on it. Was it too obvious? Too subtle? Don't worry, it gets a bit clearer in the next chapter, which will be Bryan again. God he's so much fun to write. So's Ray, which is where this whole thing came from.

Is it worth reviewing? Cos I like reviews...go on, make my day...


	4. In Australia, with dinner and Commando

Alright, little background info. Last year we (my year at school) went on an excursion to an adventure camp outside of Newcastle, which is what this is semi-based off. Some of the activities for example, though I made my own instructors up completely off the top of my head.

Warnings: Swearing again, yaoi, mild Robert-bashing from Bryan, pasta-bashing, a conspiracy theory and general madness such as is spawned from my mind. Again, it's not that bad...

Disclaimer: I'm too bored to bother today. I don't own Beyblade. I don't own the 'Great Aussie Bush Camp' from wihich I borrowed some activities (such as Commando). I definitely do not own the boundaries speech from the game 'Commando'. I borrowed it from one of the instructors...what I could remember of it, anyway.

Side notes: Back to Bryan's POV, and a bit of SpencerxRobert in this chapter. Nothing major though, so don't get excited...

Enjoy!

* * *

We're at dinner. Just thought I'd establish that now, before I lose track of what's going on. Consider yourself warned, because it will happen. Look; it begins! And I haven't even rambled about anything yet. I am so bored. Not that the people around me are that bad. Robert was right. We have to sit at a table with our cabin mates. Guess it's part of that bonding shit Mr. Dickenson wants us to do. But I'm so bored. I finished dinner already; so has everyone except for Robert and Miguel. They are really slow eaters. Spencer's chatting quietly with Ray and Claude, and I was talking, but now I'm sitting here being bored. We can't leave until everyone's finished dinner. Etiquette or some crap like that.

"...wish I'd brought cards then." Huh? Who's got cards? Oh, it was just Ray talking. He has a nice voice. I'm rambling again.

"Aaron brought some; he'll lend them to us if I ask nicely."

"You're going to have to do a bit more than ask, Claudy-boy." Claudy-boy! Ha, that's a good one. Don't think Claude likes it much though, since he's staring daggers at Miguel. Miguel's still just eating calmly. What is he eating? It looks like vomit. I think it's meant to be pasta. I couldn't eat something that looks like that. Call me picky but I had enough of that in the Abbey. I'm quite enjoying being able to eat real food now.

"Maybe you should ask? You're team captain, he might listen to you."

"Does it really matter?" Robert's finished his food now – finally – and he's doing his snotty look right now. Oh yeah, he has a snotty look. Well, it's more of an I-can't-believe-you-need-this-explained-to-you look, but whatever. Snotty look is so much simpler. "We're doing an activity after dinner anyway."

"Really? What are we doing?" Hah, now Claudy-boy's getting the snotty look.

"How should I know? I'm not running this..._camp_." Yeah, Robert also hates the idea of camp, but not for the same reason as me. He has no problem with bonding, he just doesn't like accommodation that isn't five-star rated and fully catered. Stuck up snob. Apart from the snob bit he isn't too bad, but...snob.

"Well, how'd you know about the activity?"

"I listened to the instructors." Robert's not saying any more, at least not to Claude. Nope, he's talking to Spencer instead. Claude's taken up talking to Miguel, who's now finished dinner, and Ray's just sitting there, kinda like me, probably as bored as me. Hey, maybe I should talk to him.

"So Bryan, enjoy dinner?" Okay, he'll talk to me first. That'll work too.

"Yeah, apart from watching Miguel eat that...whatever it was. It looked like vomit."

"I know what you mean." Great, we've run out of conversation topics already. Although, dinner's not exactly inspiring, to say the least.

"Wonder what the activity is?" I am not now, and never have been, great with words.

"No idea. Maybe mass hide and seek or murder in the dark." Sounds like fun...not.

"Aren't those kids' games?"

"Yeah, kinda." What do you mean kinda? They are! Ian explained them to me one time. They are little kiddies' games. Probably why he wanted to play them. Then he'd be bigger than the people he's playing with. Oh, Ian's so easy to pick on. No wonder I do it so much. Oh shit, I'm rambling again. I have to stop doing this.

"Boring. We'd better be doing something decent, or I'll skip."

"I don't think we're allowed to."

"So? That's why it's called skipping, tiger." Ray's such a goody-two-shoes. I'm really going to have to change that. Imagine never skipping before. Dreadful. Oh, speaking of dreadful, Tyson's grandpa, who is here for no reason I can understand, is banging his kendo stick on the table to get our attention. Does he seriously take that thing everywhere? I think I understand why Tyson's such an idiot. His grandpa has some serious issues...maybe I'll recommend him to my therapist. Well, I would if he spoke Russian and lived in Russia. Otherwise it's kinda pointless.

"Alright everyone, once you've finished dinner, you'd better go back to your cabins, and change into old dark clothes. They're necessary for tonight's activity. We're not playing it here; once you've changed into something dark that you can get muddy, assemble at the campfire area and we'll go from there. You might also want to bring torches and spray some insect repellent." What the frig? What on earth can we be doing as a game that we'd need insect repellent for? Hold on; where the hell would we be playing a game that has insects? Don't tell me we're going swimming in the lake. There'd better not be frogs. I hate frogs!

"Come on Bry, we'd better go get changed."

"Don't call me that." Ray's coming with us as well, while the others are walking together a bit behind. Our cabin's about the furthest away from the dining room, which is a ten minute trek from the cabins. Actually, the tiger's taken to hanging around me and Spencer quite a bit. I wonder why? Miguel, Claude and Robert aren't that bad, while we're cold, anti-social, unfeeling bastards. Or something like that. The exact description varies from person to person.

"Does anyone have a torch?" Well, I didn't bring one. It's a bloody bonding camp, not a midnight-hiking camp. Plus, if I really need one I'll just flog Ian's. Payback for all the times the midget's annoyed me.

"I did." Good on you, Spence. Glad you're organised.

"What about you, Ray?"

"I don't need one." Why not? Oh, wait; he's a neko-jin. Being part-cat would probably have advantages like being able to see in the dark. Duh, self. Duh.

Well, back at the cabin, and we're all doing the quick-strip thing, except Robert, who insisted it was inappropriate and went into the bathroom. Snob. Claude and me were laughing at him, until Spencer told us off. Seriously, he is being way too nice. Unless he likes Robert. That could be why he's sticking up for him. Though why he'd like such a stuck-up prig is beyond me. I'll be watching them now...not stalking! God no, I have way better things to do. Like talk to Ray or something. Speaking of Ray, he's leaving, and...shit, I'm the only one left. I have to stop rambling!

* * *

Alright, I made it to the campfire area. No campfire though. Bit of a rip-off, actually. Actually actually, maybe it's better it's not lit. I think Ian brought some firecrackers. Best not to let him too close to the fire. Best not to let him near fire ever. Everyone else is already here, sitting on the logs and taking up all the room so I have to stand. Ah well, I don't care.

"Glad you all could make it. We'll be playing a game called Commando. If you'll follow us, we'll take you to the place where we'll be playing." The blonde lady's walked off, and now we're all following. Ray and I are somewhere towards the end. Spencer's just standing still with Robert, waiting for us to catch up. We're all walking through a sort of forest, with trees all over the place, a few paths, and lots of mud and puddles. Every so often one of the instructors keeps telling us to get down, so we all drop, some of us better than others. The girls, except for Mariah and Julia, keep complaining about getting dirty, and some of the boys, like Enrique and Tyson, are complaining too.

"Get the feeling we're being led around in circles?" Spencer mutters to me.

"Yeah."

"I think they're trying to familiarise us with the area," Ray chips in. "If the game goes for a while, we'll be playing when it's dark." Good point, cat-boy.

"I actually think they want us to play in the dark," Robert adds. Great. And I don't have a torch. "They're probably going to keep doing this until it's almost dark."

"That won't be too much longer." Sure enough, another ten minutes of wandering and it is almost dark. Another ten and we're crawling through pipes to get into a walled compound. Tell you what, it was the funniest sight watching Spencer try to get through. And watching Robert watch Spencer. There is definitely something going on there, I'm sure of it now. Maybe I should get them together. But I'm pretty crap at that kind of stuff. Wait, maybe Ray would help...he seems to like me and Spencer...

"Sit down already, Bryan!" I really, really have to stop spacing out like that.

"Ray," I whisper.

"What?"

"Need your help with something."

"What?"

"Spence and Robert."

"You really think they-"

"Yeah."

"Sure. I'll help."

"Shut up already," Spencer hisses. Yeah he must like Robert, because he's not being very nice right now. Arse. I'm supposed to be his friend. Ray's watching all this, snickering to himself. If he keeps going, I won't be able to help it. I'll kill him, no matter how pretty he is.

"Alright. Let's explain how to play Commando." It's the short dark guy, Davo, who's talking.

"But first, we need some hostages." Hostages? What the hell? What kinda game is this? "Nothing's going to happen to the hostages, they'll just be taken to another area where you'll have to try and rescue them. It's not that bad being a hostage, actually. You get to sit around and eat food until the others show up to rescue you." Right. Well, no way I'm being a hostage. That sounds so boring. Spencer seems to have the same idea as I do, same with Ray. Robert just volunteered to be a hostage. Guess trying to rescue people in the dark isn't his idea of fun. Snob. Gary, Crusher, Ming-Ming, Mathilda, Raul, Kenny and Emily all volunteered to be hostages as well. Well, this will be fun. I don't think I really wanna rescue any of them. What's-her-face, that big black lady Kiaya, just took the hostages out of the compound. She also took Max's parents with her. I've got no idea where they're going. I hate not knowing stuff, and this time I can't even ask Spencer, because he looks as lost as I am.

"Alright. Time to explain how to play." Davo's talking again. "The aim of this game is to rescue the hostages. You'll split yourself up into little groups of two to four people, and once we're finished here, you're going to go back out into the wild to try and rescue your friends. We, as in all us adults, will be on guard. You'll be given a bottle cap; this is your life." He holds up a bottle cap, just in case none of us know what it is. Idiot. "Don't lose it; they've got GPS units installed in them, and they're worth about two hundred bucks each. Lose them, and you'll be doing the dishes here for a year to pay off the debt." What a bunch of bullshit. I can't believe people are laughing. That's not funny, it's bullshit.

"If the guards catch you, you must hand over your life and return to base, which is here. You'll be made, by me, to do something in return for another life. I might make you do the Chicken Dance or the Time Warp; you don't know. Be assured though that the lives don't come free." No fricking way I'm doing some crappy dance thingy to get a life. No way.

"We do have refreshment here, such as bottles of water if you get a bit dehydrated. It is pretty warm, so keep your fluids up. Now, boundaries. Don't go past the river. Don't go onto the highway. Don't leave the trees. So, if you see Flipper, you've gone too far. If you see bright lights, don't go towards the light. Trucks are not your friends, and we don't really wanna scrape you off the highway with a spatula. So, if you see two bright lights, turn around; you've gone too far. If you somehow manage to end up back at your cabin without the rest of us, come back. The tree's are calling, come back." Yeah, this guy definitely has problems. Don't let him and Tyson's grandpa get together for the sake of everyone else's sanity. This guy speaks absolute and utter crap.

"Oh, if you rescue a hostage, you've got a free pass back to base. Now, if everyone with a torch would bring them out here." What the hell? He's making us hand over the torches? How does he expect us to see anything in the dark? Arsehole. He's rigging it so we can't win. I just know it. It's a conspiracy between him and the others. I have to stop rambling...

"...Bryan? Bryan! And people say I space out!" Shit, Ray was talking to me. I definitely have to stop the rambling

"You do, tiger. Now, what did you want?"

"We have to split up into groups, remember?"

"Yeah, you, me and Spence. Why?"

"We have to go now." That said, Spencer's gone off to get our 'life', while I'm just sitting here with Ray. At least we managed to pick a sensible group for this game. Ian teamed up with Kevin, Daichi and Mystel. Ray's muttering something about imps, and I think he's right. Those four really are imps. And they'll never rescue anyone with the amount of noise they're making right now. We'll probably have to watch out for them trying to stuff us all up or something. You know what else is a weird group? Brooklyn, Max and Tyson. Because Garland's with Kai and Tala, and they made Brooklyn babysit the other two. I think we'd better steer clear in case Brooklyn decides to do his King of Darkness thing. Not that I could blame him if he did, because those two are enough to drive anyone insane. Especially those of us who weren't quite sane to begin with. Not that I'm saying Brooklyn's insane; he's maybe just a bit unbalanced. Seriously, what's with his nature lover act? Dammit, I have to stop rambling! Everyone's already left the compound except us, and Spencer's giving me the death glare treatment. Doesn't he know that death glares are my job?

"Alright, how are we planning on doing this?" Ray asks, looking around at us.

"Know what ghost-walking is?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Follow me." See? Spencer is an over-bearing arse. And finally we've got to the actual sneaking around bit. At the moment we look a bit like we're playing 'Follow the Leader' though. Spencer's in front, I'm behind him, and Ray is behind me. We're sneaking through the bush, because that's apparently what Australian wilderness is called, following Spencer who hopefully knows where he's going. I've got no idea, which is why I'm following. All those circles they made us do at the start threw my internal compass out. Or they would have, if I had one. The whale had better not get us lost because there's no way I'm doing some stupid embarrassing stunt to get another life. I'd rather sit the rest of the game out.

"Bryan, duck!" Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! A flashlight's shining right in my eyes, and it effing hurts!

"Alright, guys, out you come." Shit. It's whats-his-face, the stupid blond guy from F-Dynasty. Romero, that's him. Of all the people to get caught by...wait a second, he has Spencer's torch! The torch must be equipped with some sort of supersonic radar or something, because there's no way that idiot would have caught us on his own. "Hand over your life."

Spencer does so, giving me another death glare. Arse. We all head back to the compound, Ray muttering a quick 'not your fault', even though it really is. Ah well, I'll take it over death glares any day. When we arrive, we're greeted by that idiot Davo who directs us to some cinnamon donuts and a water dispenser. We all have a quick snack before he waves us back over.

"Alright guys, you got caught, so you're gotta do a little something for me to get another life. Ordinarily I'd make it something embarrassing like dancing the Macarena, but right now I need help unloading all this crap." He points at something he calls a ute, the tray of which is loaded with boxes of donuts and water. We all unpack as quickly as possible before getting our new life and heading back out to try and rescue someone.

Back to sneaking through the wilderness, but this time I'm not going to get distracted by my own rambling! This time we're following Ray, who says he can hear voices from somewhere. I'm inclined to believe him, being part cat and all, and Spencer hasn't argued, so we're just following the tiger now, this time doing our best to avoid Romero. We've passed Kevin, Ian, Daichi and Mystel, who got caught by Judy. Poor them; I really don't like her very much, bossy cow that she is. We've also passed Tyson, Max and Brooklyn. They weren't doing much, since Brooklyn was intent on studying all the trees and bushes and shit, and Tyson and Max were keeping each other entertained. They were playing 'I Spy' again. Like you can see anything in the dark. Idiots.

Dammit, Ray's good. I can actually hear the hostages now too. Of course, it's getting a bit harder to avoid all the adults, but it's nothing I can't handle. This has nothing on sneaking out of the Abbey, and I've lost count of the amounts of times I managed that. I really need to pay attention, since we're nearly at the hostages now...

One step, two step, three step...how do we tell when we're 'safe'? I mean, is there a line we have to pass before we're able to rescue a hostage? Or do we just grab one and go? The stupid idiot never explained that to us. Probably didn't think anyone would get past the adults, what with the torch conspiracy and the embarrassing dancing.

...fourteen step, fifteen step. Why am I counting my steps? Eighteen step, nineteen step...

"Alright, I think we got past them." Way to state the obvious, Spence.

"Who should we rescue?" Ray looks worried. I guess the adults could always catch us before we get to someone, if we're too loud or something. He seriously is a goody-two-shoes...

"Whoever's closest? No time to waste being picky." Is it obvious that I don't really care?

"Alright." Wow, now that completely pointless conversation is over, we've stepped into the hostage holding area where Kiaya is sitting with the hostages.

"Got a life, boys?" She quirks an eyebrow at us, and Spencer holds up the little bottle lid. "Alright, who wants to go back?" No one near us seems inclined to move. Can't say I blame them; they get coffee. And Coke! I'm jealous! And craving...

"Don't even think about it, Bryan. Your addiction is unhealthy," Spencer warns. Ray looks puzzled, he doesn't know about my addiction...I don't think. I'm pissed now, and we still don't have someone to rescue.

"Oh, you made it past the 'guards'?" I forgot Robert was a hostage. He was probably Spencer's whole reason to play though. Ray's giving me a look, and I smirk back at him. Yeah, we've got an opportunity here.

"That's right. I guess we're 'rescuing' you then, Robert," Ray says sweetly. Seriously, his voice is almost dripping sugar or something, it's that sweet. Robert's blushing. I'm guessing it's because of Spencer, who's taken the liberty of death-glaring at Ray. Good, means this won't all be a waste of time. I really hate wasting my time. Another thing on my list of stuff I hate.

"Alright, can we go?" I hate to be rude...actually, no I don't. Now the long trek back to base. Boring. Unless we can spice it up a little. "Hey Spence, you'd better help Robert find the way. He didn't have to sneak in here like we did; he's probably got no idea where we're going." I really need to talk to Spencer about death-glaring without my permission. I ought to take a patent out on death glares. Kai's got nothing on me...well, maybe a little. But I'm better!

Ray's giving me a little satisfied smirk now. Oh, we are so going to put those two through hell! Starting right now...

I think I've changed my mind. Maybe this camp won't be so bad after all.

* * *

I promised I would update on the weekend, and I did. Yay me!

My longest chapter so far. Woohoo! *pats self on back*

We really did play Commando, though my group never rescued a hostage. We did ghost-walk though, once the Cadet and the Girl Guide explained to poor clueless me what exactly ghost-walking was...

Alas, we also had an instructor who made the whole Commando explanation, including the bits about Flipper and the river, and the highway. I couldn't remember most of it, so it's much different to what he told us. His version was much funnier though. Nowhere near as sad as mine.

Well, hope you liked it. Please review and share your thoughts.


	5. The First Day, with TeamPlayer Planks

Finally, an update. A whole month from my last one. I feel so slack...beware the terrible powers of procrastination. And English assignments. But mostly just procrastination.

Warnings: Minor language, the contemplation of ways a butter knife should not be used, food abuse, Tyson-induced chaos, and two mighty planks.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. That honour belongs to a highly creative Japanese guy whose name I can never remember...be assured though, it's not me. Bleugh.

Side notes: No major pairing moments, this is just me trying to get back on track after being bitten by procrastination and a thorough lack of creativity. A little humour and Ray spacing out are all I have for you today...

Enjoy what you can. Until you finish reading this chapter, I bid you adieu.

* * *

Commando was interesting. I have about ten million mozzie bites, and they are driving me nuts! They itch! And Spencer likes Robert...

It's about seven a.m. in the morning (well, of course it's morning, it's a.m.!), and there is currently a mad scramble to get dressed and ready for breakfast...just not in our cabin. We're all ready except for Claude who's in the shower at the moment, but I think he's nearly finished, so really, we are all ready. I had a shower last night, because there was no way in hell I was going to bed all muddy. Call me picky, but cleanliness is very important in maintaining hygiene. I feel so smart right now. I also feel like I am spacing out...

"RAY!" Yes, I was spacing out, as Johnny has just reminded me. Don't ask me why Johnny is here. I think he's visiting Robert. Michael is also here. Again, don't ask me why; there is not one American sleeping in our cabin. Although, I think he and Johnny got kicked out of their cabin when they woke everyone else up in a very unpleasant way. I don't know what was so unpleasant about it, but Steve's still ranting, so it was probably pretty bad. But I think that might be why they are in our cabin. I'm not sure; my brain doesn't really switch on until after breakfast. Before then, I ramble and repeat myself. Much like I'm doing now.

"Earth to the tiger; we're leaving." I must have spaced out, again. How embarrassing. At least Bryan was nice enough to wait for me...I wonder if he's feeling well? Nice isn't really a word generally associated with him, or any of the Russians, so I'm a little concerned. I'm also definitely not spacing out again, since I've managed to get up and begin the walk to the dining hall. That makes me sound like I'm drunk...

Why did no one tell me breakfast was a synonym for chaos? Mainly Tyson-induced chaos, but chaos all the same. Tyson's table is not taking well to his apparent lack of table manners. Tala is threatening him with a butter knife. I never knew butter knives could be so scary. Garland's giving our illustrious world champ the 'you've-got-until-the-count-of-three' look...time up. He's forcibly removed Tyson's plate from the premises. As in, through the (open) window. Tyson is now intent on rescuing his plate. It's official. He's an idiot.

And don't get me started on the imps. For some extremely strange reason, Kevin decided it would be a good idea to deprive Lee of coffee after his entire cabin was woken up early by Johnny and Michael. Did I mention Steve is still ranting about it? It's been over an hour...At any rate, Lee is very, very grumpy in the morning without his coffee. Seriously, he shoved Ming-Ming out of the way so he could get to the coffee machine. Now, I'm not her biggest fan, but it's rude to hit, shove or otherwise physically mistreat a woman. Again, I feel smart. At least my table is almost normal. We're all eating breakfast and not throwing it around the room (Ming-Ming and Hilary haven't quite had that food fight yet, but they will soon if Daichi keeps going the way he is...He and Ian are throwing food at the two to make it seem like the other girl threw it), nor are we stealing people's coffee. In fact, I'd say we're about the most normal table in the room. Even if Miguel is a really slow eater. It's taken him fifteen minutes to eat his toast, and that was only one slice. Even Robert, the other champion of slow eaters, finished before him.

"Right everyone, listen up." It's that blonde lady, Lyndal. "Since this is camp, you will be doing activities. We'll split you up into groups and assign each group some supervisors and instructors. Yes, you can try to get the supervisors to take part in the activities. We'll have three groups; two cabins will go together in one group. The lists are posted on the noticeboard; you've got half an hour until we begin the first activity."

Half an hour...that would make it nine when we start the activity. I wonder which cabin we're joining up with? Robert and Claude just went to check it out. I hope it's not the girls. I'm sure I couldn't put up with Ming-Ming and Hilary for the whole day. I also hope it's not Michael and Johnny's cabin, because Steve only just stopped ranting now, and Lee still looks annoyed about his coffee. Aaron's the only sane one in there. Nor do I want to be paired with the imps. Life would not be worth living if that happened. Well, maybe it's not quite that bad, but it's getting close.

"We're with Kai, Tala and that lot." Claude doesn't look too happy with his announcement. I have to admit, I'm not too thrilled either. Not that I dislike any of the individuals in that cabin, but it means we'll be subject to Tyson-induced chaos all bloody day. Life is not fair. "We've got Hiro, Lyndal, Kiaya and Mr. D for supervisors and instructors." Well, that's not so bad. Maybe Hiro can curb Tyson a little. Yeah, self, and maybe pigs will fly.

It looks like 'Kai, Tala and that lot' have figured out that they're supposed to be in a group with us, as Tyson and Max are waving enthusiastically at us right now. Tala still has that butter knife ready to castrate Tyson with if he's not too careful, while the rest just look resigned. I hope it's to Tyson's behaviour and not having to be in a group with us. Wow, they look like right idiots now, still waving even though not one of us has made a move to wave back. I guess I'll put them out of their misery.

"What the hell was that for?" Shut up Spencer, I know what I'm doing.

"They won't stop unless you wave back. I'm just ending everyone's misery." Trust me, being on a team with them for however long it was, I do actually know this stuff. Claude and Miguel seem to recognise this fact, as they're completely ignoring me to leave the table and...oh my, Miguel finally finished breakfast! We don't have to wait at the table anymore!

I really need to stop listening to Mariah. The drama is invading my brain.

* * *

Well, we finally made it to our first activity, which is, and I quote, 'Alpine Rescue'. From what I can gather, it involves putting someone light in a metal stretcher (which really looks more like half a coffin) and trying to get around various obstacles while keeping them in the stretcher. We have to stay on the logs, and we have two planks we can manipulate to help us. Of course, we all have to wear safety helmets and harnesses for when we get to the flying fox bit. What I want to know is how we're supposed to transport a person in a stretcher via flying fox. That could be awkward. Apparently it's a race against another group, some random people who were brought here by their instructors. Yeah, fun. At least they're not crazy fans or anything. Actually, from the lack of reaction, I suspect they're not fans at all. Maybe they're cricket fans. That sport really confuses me. Especially since China doesn't play it.

"Alright Kai, you're the lightest, hop in the stretcher already." Good luck with that, Tala. Convincing Kai to play victim will not be easy.

"No. Max is lighter." See?

"No Kai, Max grew. You're lighter now." Oh no, there goes all our hope. Tyson has officially doomed us. Kai definitely won't do it now.

"Fine." Wait...what? Since when did Kai agree with Tyson? I feel so out of whack. Icky mental images are coming back. I blame Max, who's currently winking like he has the eyelash from hell stuck in his eye. Note to self: never hang around a drunk Max ever, ever again. It is a scarring experience.

Alright, back to reality, and Kai's hopped in the stretcher, looking mighty uncomfortable. By unanimous (and silent) vote, Bryan and Spencer have been appointed stretcher carriers. The rest of us are going to have to pretend we have brains to try and make this work. Our first challenge; trying to haul a stretcher over odd piles of cemented tires. Oh yeah, those planks are gonna be real handy. Garland, Robert and Tala have been officially dubbed the brains trust, Miguel and Claude get to be plank-carriers, and I am officially the Tyson and Max entertainer. Brooklyn is our correspondent with nature, I guess, since all he's doing right now is bird watching. Oh, and he stopped Claude from crushing an ant.

Okay, well, thanks to our diligent plank-haulers, we just made it past the cement-tyre-stack things, and now we're onto a set of logs that get wider and wider apart. Damn, whoever made this didn't try to make it easy for us. Claude and Miguel are going to be extremely busy, I can tell. If they can keep their balance, that is. I'm not having a problem, but Tyson and Max have fallen off the logs, a few times now. Spencer keeps wobbling dangerously, which in turn jolts Kai around, who then gets extremely cranky and starts scolding. Robert's not faring so well either, though he's managed not to fall off yet. The rest are doing alright, though Bryan keeps getting unbalanced when Spencer tugs on the stretcher. One thing about the logs, they're thinner when they're closer together.

Alright, we made it past those logs without incident, except for Kiaya cacking herself laughing at Tyson and Max's expense. Not that I mind very much, but I think they do. Our next challenge involves more tyre stacks, and then wobbly logs.

"Hey, those logs wobble." Wow, Tyson, how very astute you are. May you receive a medal for your powers of observation.

"Are you alright, Ray? You're mumbling." Shit, shit, crap, shit. I just said that out loud. Ah well, I don't think Tyson heard, and it made Bryan laugh. And Tala, Spencer, Garland, Miguel and Claude.

"Yeah Tyson, I'm fine. I was just saying, we might need people to stand at the end of those logs to keep them level for the stretcher-bearers, when we get to them." Praise be to me, the genius. Or not, since anyone could have figured that out, but a guy can dream, right? Well, apparently the others thought I was right, because Tyson and Max are finally making themselves useful by standing at the ends of the wobbly logs while the rest of us follow Bryan and Spencer, Kai suspended between them in the half-coffin thing.

I really, really don't like Australian summers. Way too hot. I am sweating like I've just run a marathon, and the flies. Oh, the flies. They're enough to drive a person insane. And they won't. Go. Away. Grr. Random rambling rant aside, we made it past the wobbly logs. Barely. And now we have to get past a log with a tyre suspended from a frame in the middle. Claude and Miguel really are getting a good workout. Those planks are the most important members of the team at the moment, even though we keep treading them into the dust. And mud, since it rained recently. The planks have been placed beside the log so that we can get around the tyre, and we're playing a miniature game of 'follow the leader' trying to get us all past the tyre. Looking around, the other team looks like they're having trouble; they just dropped their poor victim out of the stretcher. Ow. I think points are deducted for that.

"Alright people, going good so far. Now, for this bit, Kai can get out of the stretcher, and we'll send you all across the flying fox. I'll take the stretcher and the planks down for you, but you all have to go across the flying fox, which is why you're wearing your harness." Lyndal's started moving stuff already, while Kiaya's attaching the cable thingy to the harness so we don't fall off and break our necks. Kai gets to go first; the joys of being the poor injured victim, I guess. There are two cables, so Tala's all set to go after him, though we can only go one at a time. Tala's gone, then Miguel, Spencer, Max, Bryan, Tyson, me, Brooklyn, Garland, Robert and Claude, in that order. It's only a small distance, so it doesn't take too long for us all to be finished with the flying fox. Kai isn't very happy since he now has to get back in the stretcher as we try to get past...more tyre-cement-pile-thingies! The creator of this thing must have loved their tyres. Or their cement. Or both, together in a pile. However, these ones are a bit taller, so it's going to be worse if we fall. Most of us can jump the distance, while Bryan and Spencer will need the planks.

We really should consider giving those planks 'team player' awards or something. They're doing the most work out of all of us, and are completely uncomplaining. Of course, they're only inanimate objects, so it's not like they actually could complain, so...I'll just stop now. I really need to stop the chats with Mariah; the drama is spreading. Fear the invasiveness! I know I do. And oh my dearie gracious me, my mozzie bites itch, and it is so hot! Dammit! Normally I like summer, but this is insane! Especially after Japan, where it's so much milder, weather-wise. And for some reason, Japanese mozzies are more polite than the Australian ones. As in, they don't bite you in a thousand places purely to make life a misery and...shit, I'm rambling. Again.

"Dammit! Space cadet, wake up!" I think that may have been directed at me. "Ray!" Yeah, Kai was definitely talking to me. And he doesn't sound happy. What on earth have I done now?

"Hello?" We'll start small; he can't bite my head off for being polite. I hope.

"Are you aware that we're done?" Really? When did that happen? How the hell do I keep missing this stuff? I really need to stop the rambling and pay attention. Somehow I missed us navigating a tunnel and more tyre-cement-stacks to get back to our original starting point, and beating the other team who are having fun with the flying fox at the moment. Yeah, I really need to stop the rambling.

* * *

I am fully aware this is only part of the day. The next half I shall probably change to Bryan's point of view. Because I can do that. Meh.

'Alpine rescue' is another activity we did while on camp. It was actually quite fun. Nobody dropped their stretcher person, luckily. Although, those harnesses were the devil for wedgies...

I'm going to try and have the next bit up soon. I won't make promises I can't keep, but it will be quicker than the month this one took.

30 days till my birthday! Not that anyone but me really cares, but what the hell.

As always, please review and let me know how this story is developing. Feel entitled to berate me for not updating sooner if you want; I know I deserve it.


	6. 1st Day Interlude: Battle with a Barrel

...I'm back...briefly. Please don't kill me. I've had the writer's block from hell on this, and I still haven't really broken it. It's taken me how long now to come out with this rather pathetic peace offering?

I really am sorry. I do apologise, most profusely (because I like big words :D). But, I do have school. Year 12, second last term, 7 separate assignments between six subjects, four practice essays in English... I'm not trying to garner sympathy, merely provide some sort of excuse for an extended absence. but, now I'm on holidays, and hopefully (I make no promises, because that usually turns out badly...), hopefully, I can get something done in the next two weeks.

Anyways, enough rambling by me. Enjoy!

* * *

Tyson and Max are idiots. I thought so before, but now I'm positive. They're freaking idiots. Who the hell thinks telling Brooklyn about their attempts at genocide against an anthill is a good idea? Not that he isn't already a nutcase, but he'll be even nuttier by the end of this trip. We all will, at least those of us that have to put up with them every bloody day. I have no idea how Kai managed for so long, or even Ray for that matter.

I've decided I'm just going to take meals in the cabin from now on. I'm sure I can make Spencer or Ray bring me my food, because I am not eating with the idiots. As of lunchtime, they decided it would be a great idea if their cabin joined our cabin for lunch, since we're all working together in a group and what-not. More bloody bonding shit. I swear, if I survive this week, I'm going to kill Mr. Dickenson.

Hilary and Ming-Ming finally had their food fight. It was freaking scary. Two women chucking food at each other while screaming their heads off? Yeah, we all ran for cover too. Like, nearly all of us just left them to it and ate lunch outside, in the forty degree heat, with the flies. It was that bad. Even the other girls just left them to it. I guess they've had to put up with them constantly since this stupid camp began though. Those two are seriously almost as bad as Tyson and Max. But only almost.

After lunch we had about half an hour of spare time before our next activity, so we all went back to our cabins, which don't even have frigging air conditioning or anything. The only ventilation we get is the bloody window. Pretty pathetic. I have no idea why anyone would want to come to this place in this sort of weather. Why couldn't Mr. Dickenson have booked it for autumn or something?

Ray and I took the chance to go for a walk to the candy shop. Yeah, they have a candy shop. It's full of chocolate, lollies...and Coke! While we were on our walk, we started plotting ways to get Spencer and Robert together. We didn't get much though; neither of us are particularly good as matchmakers. Ray suggested letting Mariah help, since she's a girl and they're apparently naturally gifted at shit like that. I couldn't give a flying farting monkey whether she helped or not, so I guess it means she's helping. As long as she can keep her mouth shut, because we do not need the idiots finding out what we're up to. God only knows what would happen if Max and Tyson found out. Anyway, we made the visit to the candy shop; I got a massive bottle of Coke (because I really need to catch up on what I've missed the past couple of days. I usually get at least one 600mL bottle a day), and Ray got some weird lollies; liquorice allsorts or something. I hate liquorice though, so I'm so not flogging any.

Anyway, right now we're sitting on the little porch thing the cabins have, just doing absolutely nothing until the instructors show up to tell us what's happening next.

"Bloody hell, Bryan. You think you'd be able to kick the Coke addiction for at least a few days."

"Uh, that's the point of an addiction, Spencer. You don't kick it. You need it to survive."

"Liquorice allsort?" That's Ray, always the bloody peacemaker. He is seriously way too nice for his own good. I cannot believe he and Spencer actually like those disgusting things! Ugh!

"So when are you two going to get together?" Alright, it's official: Spencer's a bastard. I think he's just given Ray a heart attack. The kitty's all white and pale looking. He'd better not go dying on me, because I seriously suck at first aid. Tala's the would-be doctor for the team. Guess I'd better save the poor kitty from the shame.

"Probably the same time you and Robert start going out." Any chance to embarrass Spencer. He deserves it, smug liquorice-liking bastard. Not for liking liquorice, just for being a bastard. If he deserved it for liking liquorice, I'd have to be nasty to Ray too, which I'm not. Ha, that got him. He's gone really, really red – like a tomato, except he was ghost white before that. It's kinda funny, actually. I mean, picture it – Spencer Petrov, blushing.

"You're a bastard, Bryan." Well, duh. I've been hanging around you for way too long. And Kai. For Kai is the king of all things mean and cold-hearted – at least, that's what Tala said one time, and it was funny enough that it's now a recurrent joke of sorts. Because we are awesome people who have recurrent jokes. I should just stop thinking...

"Does anyone know what we're doing next?" Oh, great. Here we go – the idiots have decided to grace us with their presence. Can't you feel the magical bonding happy-time coming on?

"No idea, Max. If I knew, I wouldn't be sitting here in the heat. I'd be there, doing whatever it is in the heat instead."

"Are you serious, Ray? You actually like this heat?" Has no one ever introduced Tyson to sarcasm, or is he just that stupid? I seriously do not get him at all. Which is probably a good thing. Better for my mental health, at any rate.

"No Tyson," Ray says wearily. At least, I think that's the word. He sounds tired of talking to Tyson, anyway, so I'll just say wearily for the thrill of it. And because it makes me sound smart.

"Why are the instructors here?" Max asks, pointing. Well, maybe to tell us the next activity? Seriously, I don't know how anyone puts up with this pair. If it was me, they would have died a long time ago. I've only been stuck with them for half a day and I'm about ready to kill them. Honestly, I have no idea how Kai and Ray could put up with them. Well, Ray's pretty patient, so I can see how he could do it, but Kai's a cranky young fart.

"Probably for the next activity," Spencer rumbles, before walking back inside. He really does rumble, too. I think it's because he's so big. Like a train or something, how they rumble along the tracks. Except Spencer has no sense of direction...

"Well, I just hope it's something good." It had better not be hiking, otherwise I am fully willing to justify my reputation as a nutcase and kill someone.

"OI!" Holy mother of Jesus, that Kiaya woman can bellow. But then again, she's nearly as big as Spencer...it's quite scary, actually. "Everyone get out here now!" It's amazing how much like ants everyone looks at the moment, all crowded on their porches, trying to stay where they can get a little bit of air flow that might have been cool in another life. For example, Ray and I are still sitting here, Spencer's had to come back out, and he's jumped up on the little guard rail which I'm scared is going to break under his weight. Not because I care, just because I don't want to get squashed by him. Miguel and Claude are standing behind us, leaning up against the wall, while Robert's back just inside the cabin and shade.

"Great," Jase said cheerfully. I wonder how he can be so cheerful in this heat; it's enough to make a person kill. I think I might have mentioned such a thing earlier – or was that just Tyson and Max who'd make someone want to commit murder? Ah well, either way works for me. "Now, I know it's pretty hot, and a lot of you aren't really used to this sort of weather, but it is supposed to get cooler later in the week. Tomorrow is gonna be a killer though, so we're making it an official beach day, with shopping in Newcastle in the afternoon." Well, thank God. Or whoever up there is nice enough to cool things off for us. I swear I'm going to go home with heatstroke, and then I'll get pneumonia...cause and effect. The weather is gonna kill me.

"Anyway, we thought it's a little early to start the next activity, so we're going to do a big group one." Ugh, bonding. Shoot me now. "Everyone up." I think he's nuts. Someone take him away now. Lock him up, I say! Wait... that sounded really stereotypically English. Hello, chaps. Yuck.

"I'm serious." That's nice, pal, but your glare really isn't that scary. I'm not moving. I have a nice...warm...okay, maybe not so nice but still comfy...alright, it's not comfy either...well, whatever. I'm not moving.

"Oi! Get up, you little monkeys!" That was Kiaya, and good lord in heaven – she is LOUD.

"She scares me," I can hear Claude whisper. Yeah, I'm following him and Miguel over to the picnic table in the middle of the big grassy section that separates a line of three cabins from another line of three cabins. Our cabin is on the side that's further away from...well, from everything, pretty much. All we're close to is some charming trees in which this kookaburra that is nearly as noisy as Kiaya lives. At least, I think it's a kookaburra. Australian animals are all really weird.

"Okay, now get in a circle and hold hands." Oh no. Hell no. I am not doing that.

"Come on Bryan," Ray whispers. I glare. Death glare. Because I don't care how nice he is, I am not participating in any touchy-feely shit. Nuh-uh. No way.

"Yeah, Bryan," Spencer smirks, before yanking me into the circle. Bastard. I've got him on one side and Ray on the other. I have no idea what we're doing, but I doubt it's going to be fun.

"Alright, everyone in? Supervisors too." Yes, thank the big man up there. Max's dad just put himself between me and Spencer. "Good. Now, the aim of this activity is to try and yank people into the barrel." Yeah, we formed a circle around a barrel. I had wondered what that was there for. Stupid barrel. It smells kinda like petroleum. I hate the smell of petroleum. Wait...yanking people into a barrel? I take back what I said earlier. This could be fun.

"Of course, if you let go of a person's hand during the exercise, you're out too," the blond surfer guy adds. "It's actually pretty fun. Last time we played, it got down to me against Kiaya...I think you can all guess who won." Everyone laughs at that – he's like half the size of the woman. Not that that makes him small, because she's pretty big. Not fat or anything, just big. Like tall and with muscle big.

"Okay, everyone ready?' Davo asks. "Let's go!" Instantly people begin pulling and shoving and trying to throw people into the barrel. Spencer and Kiaya have kinda just dug their feet in, and because I'm near Spencer, I'm not being pulled too far, luckily. Mr. Tate's kinda strong too. You know, for an old guy. Well, not as old as Mr. Dickenson or Tyson's Grandpa, but still.

Yes! Ming-Ming just got hurled into the barrel...by Garland, no less. Despite what he did to Tala, if he keeps the Ming-Ming abuse up, I really could start to like the guy. And she dragged Kenny with her. Not that I hate him, but the obsession he has with the little brat is scary. He should definitely get counselling or something.

"Tyson! You're going to rip my arm off!" Yes, that was Hilary screeching just then. Because that girl really is a world champion screecher. Which still doesn't explain what she's doing with a world class blading team when she herself can't blade. Ah well, she just got eliminated by the idiot, who threw himself at the barrel just to eliminate her – the idiot being Tyson, of course. "You idiot, Tyson!"

"You tell him, Hilary," Max adds. Idiot. Now Michael has managed to force him into the barrel...wait, when did I miss the four imps (Ray's influence) getting knocked out? Why did I miss it? I wanted to laugh at Ian, dammit!

...And we've just lost Brooklyn. He stopped to look at some birds, and Kai pushed him into the barrel. Don't ask me about the physics behind pushing a person into something when the only point of contact is their wrist, because I'm really not sure how it happened either. But hey, it's Kai. Logic doesn't apply to him, the bastard.

"Oh crap." That was me. More specifically, that was me being forced into the barrel, by Spencer and Max's dad. Assholes. I hope they eliminate each other. I really do. Or that Kiaya gets them. Because that would be poetic justice, or something like that. Well, maybe not, but I'm going to pretend it is anyway. Because I can do that.

...And I'm going to take a seat on the picnic table. Again. With Miguel, who I also hadn't noticed had been eliminated. Hmm. I feel really inadequate now. Gah, it's so hot! I hate heat! At least summer back home is still cold. Here it's absolutely ridiculous how hot it is. I'm betting even our summer is colder than their winter.

I'm so over this. I think I might just take the chance now to go...to...sleep...

* * *

...So. What did you think? I know it's not much, but I really did want to put out something...although it's making this one day go forever...

Well, please review. Not that I really deserve it after neglecting this for so long...but review anyway? :D


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